Sapient Capital LLC Invests $407,000 in Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lear Co. (NYSE:LEA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,882 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 5.0% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 373 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Lear by 4.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,152 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Lear by 4.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,975 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Lear by 4.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,282 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 97.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on LEA shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Lear from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price on Lear from $146.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Lear from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Lear from $177.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lear from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lear news, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,465,019.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Raymond E. Scott sold 10,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.86, for a total value of $1,415,224.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,810,483.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jason M. Cardew sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.81, for a total transaction of $387,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,465,019.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lear Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LEA opened at $127.15 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.56. The company has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.55. Lear Co. has a 12-month low of $117.79 and a 12-month high of $157.90.

Lear (NYSE:LEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The auto parts company reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $5.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. Lear had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 2.28%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lear Co. will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Lear Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Lear’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.59%.

About Lear

Lear Corporation designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, assembles, and supplies automotive seating, and electrical distribution systems and related components for automotive original equipment manufacturers in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Its Seating segment offers seat systems, seat subsystems, keyseat components, seat trim covers, seat mechanisms, seat foams, and headrests, as well as surface materials, such as leather and fabric for automobiles and light trucks, compact cars, pick-up trucks, and sport utility vehicles.